Wednesday, 9 November 2011

The Mother Church of all Churches

Everyone who associates themselves with a particular parish church is familiar with the concept of the various dates that are of particular significance for their particular place of worship : the anniversary of dedication, the saint's day of the saint to whom the building is dedicated, the anniversary of the date on which their church obtained parish church status.....

Today is such a day par excellence. Usually, the dedication of a church is a cause for parochial or at most local celebration, but today we mark with a Feast the Dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour with Ss John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, a building more usually known as St John Lateran.

This Archbasilica, and not the Basilica of St Peter's, is the Cathedral of Rome, where the Cathedra of the Bishop of Rome is situated. St John Lateran is the mother and head church of all churches, as the following carved inscription that can be found on its front wall proclaims :

The facts in that last paragraph are perhaps not universally known, but the Archbasilica is also noteworthy for many other reasons. For example, inside the altar is said to be the remains of a wooden table on which St Peter himself said Mass. Furthermore, the Archbasilica also contains the Scala Sancta, the marble steps brought by St Helena to Rome that had once formed part of the house of Pontius Pilate, and hence were walked upon by Our Lord. For someone who spends as much time in France as I do, the little gem that Nicolas Sarkozy is, by dint of being French Head of State, the "First and Only Honorary Canon" of the Archbasilica is something that raises a slight smile.

Regular readers of the blog will have noted that I have a weakness for archive footage. I intend to indulge myself again today by including this film of Pope Pius XII visiting St John Lateran one Ascension Day. Despite being whisked across Rome in a convoy of cars, Pope Pius XII does eventually appear on the sedia gestatoria, and at 1.55 gives the Apostolic Blessing.

The obvious choice of some music at this point would be the well known setting of the Gradual for Mass today, Locus Iste, by Anton Bruckner. However, I'm going to choose something a little more controversial, the setting of verses from Psalm 84 by Brahms, Wie Lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen (How Lovely are Thy Dwellings Fair) here conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Don't give up before the "Star Trek Moment" at 5.04.

Blessed John Henry Newman on the hope for Reunion

… I gather up and bear in memory those familiar affectionate companions and counsellors, who in Oxford were given to me, one after another, to be my daily solace and relief; and all those others, of great name and high example, who were my thorough friends, and showed me true attachment in times long past….

And I earnestly pray for this whole company, with a hope against hope, that all of us, who once were so united, and so happy in our union, may even now be brought at length, by the Power of the Divine Will, into One Fold and under One Shepherd.

Apologia pro Vita Sua

Blessed John Henry Newman's Prayer for Unity

O Lord Jesus Christ, who when Thou wast about to suffer didst pray for Thy disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as Thou art in the Father and the Father in Thee, look down in pity on the manifold divisions among those who profess Thy faith and heal the many wounds which the pride of man and the craft of Satan have inflicted on Thy people.

Break down the walls of separation which divide one party and denomination of Christians from another. Look with compassion on the souls who have been born in one or other of these communions, which not Thou, but man, hath made.

Set free the prisoners from these unauthorised forms of worship, and bring them all to the one communion which Thou didst set up at the beginning – the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Teach all men that the See of Peter, the Holy Church of Rome, is the foundation, centre, and instrument of Unity. Open their hearts to the long forgotten truth that the Holy Father, the Pope, is Thy Vicar and representative; and that in obeying him in matters of religion they are obeying Thee, so that as there is but one company in heaven above, so likewise there may be one communion, confessing and glorifying Thy holy Name, here below. Amen

Fr Ignatius Harrison, the former Provost of the London Oratory, on Unity

Another of the Holy Father’s outstanding achievements is his inspiring work for Christian Unity in setting-up the Ordinariates for former Anglicans. What a brilliant way of cutting through the plethora of mealy-mouthed verbiage and foggy thinking that has characterized so much ecumenical activity in recent decades, verbiage and fogginess which may indeed have had the very best of intentions, but which nevertheless achieved so little in real terms.

Let us also pray with all our heart and mind and strength that our vitally important ecumenical journey with our Greek and Russian Orthodox brethren will continue apace, that our charitable and respectful dialogue with them will bear much fruit, so that the universal Church might once again breathe with two whole lungs, and so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd. Domine, ut sit!